Visconti Van Gogh Maxi

[soloworx]

Overview

 

I took advantage of Chuck Swisher’s time-limited discounted sale for Visconti pens that ended in mid-March. The Van Gogh has been in my cross-hairs for about half a year already and the sale plus the proper alignment of the stars collaborated to bring about this serendipitous moment.

 

My first choice was the tortoise translucent pen but since it was not in stock at that moment, I opted for the next best color – the sandal brown. I could have waited for the tortoise because Swisher offered to extend the sale price for me until it became available, but I thought that the two-week wait would have melted my resolve to get a Van Gogh at all and thus, I plunged in – clicked on the PayPal button and let nature take its course. The EMS shipping took six days from VA to the Philippines – an added bonus, because I knew it could have taken longer than that – more fodder for the stellar-alignment theory.

 

 

Appearance / Finish – 4.5 out of 5

 

The Van Gogh Maxi is simply beautiful. The colors are brilliant and seem to jump off the pen. It is slightly translucent especially in the cap; I can still see the section when closed. After I unboxed and before I inked the pen, I looked up the Van Gogh cyber-gallery and tried to match the painting where Visconti lifted the colors from. The closest I could find was Van Gogh’s painting, A Pair of Shoes (1887, Paris). It may not be the right painting, but ‘shoes’ and ‘sandal brown’, there ought to be a connection.

 

 

The metal furniture is plated in rhodium and blends well in combination with the sandal brown hue. The finish is impeccable, and so is the fit of cap to the barrel, the section to the barrel, the smooth turn of the converter. The embossed logos are precisely applied. The cap unscrews with 1.75 turns; the barrel parts with the section in exactly 5 turns.

 

 

My only beef is with the case – it looks cheesy with the faux alligator cover. I’ve had cheap Chinese pens with better made wood boxes. I’m just glad that I can chuck the box out of sight.

 

The Visconti logo is right below the tip of the bridge clip, while the Van Gogh appellation is embossed exactly 180 degrees behind. The clip adjustment screw is nice but hardly necessary.

 

Design/Size/Weight – 4.5 out of 5

 

I do not post my FP when writing and the pen feels comfortable in my hand. I wrote with it for about an hour and it still felt right. The girth of the section does not require me to grip too hard as I’m wont to do with slimmer pens. It’s not a light pen; when capped, the pen tends to be head-heavy (pardon the tennis and golf reference there) but when uncapped, the balance is perfect because of a counterweight that I’ll discuss later.

 

Using my usually dependable eyeball technique (and aided by a straight rule), the Van Gogh Maxi is 15 mm taller than the Bexley Simplicity and Duofold International (all measurements while capped), and 3 mm shorter than a Danitrio Takumi. The widest part of the barrel is approximately 1 mm bigger than the Bexley and Parker.

 

Nib Design and Performance – 4.5 out of 5

 

The nib is 14k gold, fine, finished in rhodium and adorned with finely etched, symmetric curlicues and swirls. The shaft of the nib wraps around the feed in a very tight radius, similar to the modern Duofold’s spade-patterned nib. If I were to categorize the nib ‘feel’ in terms of Sailor’s parameters, the Van Gogh nib would be dubbed H-F or hard (firm) fine. For no-nonsense business communications, this nib works just fine – the pressure is smooth and even, with a faint hint of shading and my minuscules do not close up as they would with a wet nib. With my kind of penmanship, I’m happy with the Van Gogh’s nib.

 

 

The Filling System – 4 out of 5

 

The pen fills via a cartridge converter cum counterweight (I mentioned this under Design/Size/Weight). The c/c is probably the longest one I have ever seen: 65 mm sticking out of the tail of the section. It is screwed in to the section. One can tell that this c/c is one with the bragging rights – it is long, well built and finished with a logoed, knurled tip where you turn to operate it. The thing fills predictably; the piston is secure and does not let ink get past behind it.

 

Cost – 5 out of 5

 

Let me tell you what deal I got from this pen: a total of 30% off the second best offer from my favorite FP online supplier in Malaysia (shipping cost differential is $1.00 and maybe a couple of days speedier). Plus a 30 mL plastic bottle of Van Gogh Black ink, plus a 90 mL bottle of Van Gogh Sepia ink – all in. This was one heck of a deal for a brand new pen of my dreams.

 

Conclusion

 

What’s not to like? I’m already looking for my next Van Gogh, maybe a green from his famous painting, Irises.

Edited March 23, 2009 by soloworx

[jpr]

Great review and great pen, C.

You know, a divine proportions would definitely go well with that pen! :roflmho:

[aovelez]

Hi Chito, great review. Can't wait to see it live on the 4th.

[Rufus]

A Sandal Brown Van Gogh Maxi was my first adventure into Visconti-land and I have not been disappointed with it. It's a well made, easy writing and aesthetically pleasing fountain pen. In fact I liked my Van Gogh so much that I have subsequently aquired three more Viscontis: Copernicus, Millennium Arc 3 and Wall Street.

[soloworx]

Great review and great pen, C.

You know, a divine proportions would definitely go well with that pen! :roflmho:

 

Ha ha ha, JP! Still hawking it?

[Opus104]

Good review on what has become a staple pen. I agree on the box. The functional layout is nice, but both the brown and red versions are lacking. Plain black would have just been fine.

 

Jack

[jpr]

Great review and great pen, C.

You know, a divine proportions would definitely go well with that pen! :roflmho:

 

Ha ha ha, JP! Still hawking it?

 

 

Nah. I was kidding. I decided to keep it based on aesthetics.

[MYU]

Great review, Soloworx. I especially like how you located a Van Gogh painting that captures the colors in the sandal brown body.

 

Despite the mixed reports of Visconti reliability, a pen looking this good is hard to resist! In a way, it's probably a good thing that the tortoise wasn't available. The sandal brown is gorgeous and quite distinctive. Congratulations.

[Pengrump]

I waited for the Tortoise. It arrived less than a week later than it would have, had it been in stock. I was afraid it would take a month and arrive during the time I expect to be traveling in mid-April, but it came pretty fast. I like it. I don't mind the metal section. I do need to find a slightly freer flowing ink than the Visconti Brown I saved especially for it. That ink don't flow worth dung. I didn't want to use the blue ink that came with the pen since I have eight pens filled right now, and five of them are full of various blues.

[esquire]

Great review. I myself just bought a Van Gogh over the weeked (the blue one). Mine is a Medium nib. I love it. It writes like a dream and it's attractive. I'm looking forward to picking up another Visconti.

 

I absolutely agree with you on the case. It's just not my style.

[archie001]

Though I haven't had yet a Van Gogh, this pen of yours is really beautiful. A nice review...congratulations!

[Brian]

Nice review and photographs. I like your pen.

[nickyd]

I have a FINE nib version in Tortoise. I like it very much but this is one pen where the balance is not helped by posting the cap,IMO. It's probably designed that way! If I had bigger hands then I'm sure I'd use this pen 'posted'.

N.

[soloworx]

Thanks for the replies, fellows. I'm glad you like the review and the pen…

 

Chito

 

p.s. I followed NobleSavage's format in the last two reviews that I posted.